On the fifth day of the fifth month of May, the sun was particularly bright, shining on the red outer wall of the Fire Temple. The perimeter of the Fire Temple was already crowded with people. Today is the triennial test of Ghost Valley. The so-called big test is the year when Guigu recruits apprentices, and the small test every year only does a competition and does not accept apprentices.

"I don't know who is lucky enough to be able to get under Mr. Guigu this year." An old man said with emotion.

"yes, yes, I see that more people have signed up this year than in previous years." A young man looked excitedly as he spoke.

"But no, I heard that there are many children of officials and dignitaries." An aunt squeezed in again as she spoke, as if she could see the people inside.

"Don't forget, how many dignitaries and dignitaries have gone out from here." A middle-aged man pouted.

"yes, yes." The people were talking.

"I'm sorry, but I'm here for the exam." A childish teenager's voice rang out in the crowd. But the crowd was so lively that no one cared about the sound. "Give it a look, my shoes." A stocky middle-aged woman stepped on the teenager's shoes. The boy had just put on his shoes when a lean man knocked over the book in his arms. "My book ......" I just listened to the sound of this voice constantly ringing, but it was constantly drowned out.

When the boy's voice finally sounded at the door of the Fire Temple, there were only a few minutes left to leave the exam. "Please let me in, I'm here for the exam." I saw that this young man was wearing a linen-gray cloth shirt, and his clothes were a little loose and untidy, and he looked very small, not yet as weak as his crown, and he was about twenty-six years old.

The gatekeeper looked at the boy, "What's your name?" "Su Qin." The gatekeeper carefully checked the roster, and sure enough, he found Su Qin's name on the last page, and looked up and down again before letting him go.

Su Qin's position was right next to Ruyi, and Ruyi saw that this young man with clear eyebrows happened to walk to his side and sit down, so he greeted with a smile. The boy also smiled shyly and nodded.

The invigilator rang the bell and shouted in a long voice, "The exam is open", in a solemn voice.

The exam room quickly fell silent. I saw the pen walking on the yellowed bamboo slips, and from time to time there was the sound of the bamboo slips turning. The examination room was quiet, except for the sound of bamboo slips. The people around who watched the excitement also consciously quieted down. There seemed to be a lot more knowledge around the Fire Temple, and the sound was deafening.

There is only a written test for the entrance exam, and the real big test is in the Yunmeng Valley on Yunmeng Mountain. Only the introductory exam is in the Fire Temple. At this time, Yunmeng Valley was also very lively. There is a contest between the brothers and sisters of the Guigu Sect on the martial arts field, and there are also candidates from other disciples who come to the test. The examiners are some famous teachers.

The competition is divided into a literary test, a martial arts test and a speech test. The literary test is a strategy for the art of war, arranging troops, poems and songs, and the code system. The martial arts test only demonstrates the moves and routines, and the point is up to the point, and no one is allowed to hurt. Speeches are debates and lobbying, and the benevolent see the benevolent and the wise see the wise.

In the first competition, the ranking elimination was done, and the top 60 entered the martial arts test. The martial arts test is a two-person team elimination system, which is divided into three rounds, the first round of the written test has a bye for the top ten people, and 25 people are decided, the top five in the second round of the written test have a bye, and 15 people are decided, and the last round, 20 people are in a group of two, and 10 people are selected to enter the final speech. At the end of the speech, the ranking will be directly ranked.

The written test is coming to an end, most people have already finished writing and stopped writing, even if they don't finish writing, they won't, Ruyi is still writing seriously on this side of the Fire Temple, not in a hurry, his expression is very focused, and he is not disturbed by the outside world at all. Xiao Su Qin next to him was even more devoted, and he still had words in his mouth. Even Xia He frowned and stopped writing, and he didn't mean to stop writing.

Looking at Yunmenggu again, Pang Juan has already finished answering the test questions and is looking through the test questions in front of him. Sun Bin's hand holding the pen did not pause, he did not panic in his strokes, and the art of war that he had been familiar with since childhood kept passing through his mind, and he excerpted everything he needed on the test paper. Although Zhang Yi was young not far away, he was very calm, put down his pen, rubbed his wrist, and finally skimmed the test paper and stopped answering the questions, looking calm and relaxed, as if he was in a normal class.

As time passed, a bell rang long and long, and the written test ended with this bell.

"I didn't answer a few questions." Xia He looked at Ruyi with a sad face and said.

Ruyi patted Xia He's shoulder and comforted: "It's okay, as long as the answers are correct." ”

"But I'm not sure if I did." Xia He said embarrassedly grabbing his hair.

Ruyi smiled helplessly, and the two walked outside the temple while talking. It will take two days for the list to be released, and there is no excitement to see, and the people will gradually disperse.

Walking under the big mulberry tree outside the temple, the young man named Su Qin chased after him and asked, "What is the solution to 'Dunjia' in the question just now?" 'How did Childe solve it?' ”

Ruyi was slightly stunned, she didn't have any bad feelings towards the teenager, and the casualness shown by the other party also made her relax. After thinking about it, he said his answer. "Dunjia is set up for soldiers, for the yin image, for the trickery, so take all the escapes, and say that they are hidden under the six instruments and do not see their shape. A is the supreme god, it is better to hide than to be exposed, it is better to be harmonious than to be obedient, and it is better to be supported than to be restrained. ”（1）

The young man looked surprised, "Childe really has a unique opinion. How I didn't think of that. As he spoke, he patted his head and looked a little annoyed. Ruyi was also surprised that his expression was so rich. Xia He looked at him playfully and snickered on the side.

"Boy, who are you?" Zhang Tie shouted not far away. The three of them turned their heads to look over when they heard the sound, Tian Rang, Zhang Tie, Wei Poppy, Kang Ming, Yingman, and Caixia were all here. The young man frowned and replied a little childishly: "I'm not a kid, my name is Su Qin." ”

"Ah, it's still a little doll." Zhang Tie said with a smile.

Ruyi knew that Zhang Tie had no malicious intent. But when people are young, they are always sensitive to these things. Seeing that the young man was a little annoyed. Ruyi hurriedly said: "This is my test friend who took the exam together, let's discuss the test paper together." ”

Originally, Tian Rang and Wei Poppy were frowning just now, but when they heard this, they must have been young geniuses who came to participate in the competition at a young age, and they couldn't help but look at him differently.

"Good boy, my brother will take you to see the excitement." Zhang Tie is a straightforward and casual person, and when he sees Su Qin, he immediately looks like his own brother. Su Qin frowned and ignored him.

Ruyi looked at Tian Rang Wei Poppy Yingman and asked, "Brother Tian, Brother Wei, Sister Yingman, where are you going?" ”

Wei Poppy replied first: "We didn't go all the way, we just happened to meet, and I came to find you." Then he pointed to Tian Rang and said, "He went to see the excitement." ”

Tian Rang despised Wei Poppy ten thousand times in his heart. After a few days of getting along, Tian Rang found that Wei Poppy was dressed flamboyantly on the first day, in addition to being a little exaggerated, a little arrogant, and ...... It doesn't seem to be as annoying as it was at first.

Ying Man heard Wei Poppy say this, and felt a little uncomfortable in her heart, but she didn't show it on her face and said: "Ruyi, we are going to Yunmeng Valley to see the excitement, do you want to go together?" Quietly, he cleared up the fact that they had come to her on purpose.

As soon as Su Qin heard that he was going to Yunmeng Valley, he immediately responded: "I'm going, I'm going, take me with you." "I completely forgot that I was still angry with Zhang Tie just now, a child's temperament.

Zhang Tie walked over with a smile and patted Su Qin's shoulder and said with a smile: "Let's go, my brother will take you there." Su Qin walked a few steps and then looked back at Ruyi, "Why don't you go together?" ”

Ruyi smiled and nodded: "Just come." Wei Poppy muttered quietly, "I treat you as a relative." ”

By the time we arrived in Yunmeng Valley, the second round of the martial arts test was nearing the end. Swords, guns, swords, halberds, axes, hooks and forks, there are all kinds of weapons gathered on the martial arts field. There is still one last competition on the martial arts field, and the two have fought for more than 100 rounds, and it is still difficult to solve, and no one wants to give up this last place. Finally, the strong man in it broke off and pressed the other side, and the competition ended.

Ruyi stood in the crowd watching the bustle and asked Tian Rang in a whisper, "Brother Tian, which one is Sun Bin and which one is Pang Juan?" ”

Tian Rang glanced at the few people who had just won the competition and replied, "There are no them here." The top 10 in the written test do not need to participate in the first round of the martial arts test, and it is estimated that they will directly participate in the third round. ”

"I see." Ruyi nodded.

Sure enough, there were no Sun Bin, Pang Juan, Zhang Yi and others in the second round of the competition. After watching it for a while, Su Qin was a little interested, although he also learned martial arts, but he was still young after all, and he was more interested in literature. Taking advantage of everyone's inattention, he quietly slipped towards the backyard.

At the back of the dormitory, there is a garden-like area, and in the middle there is a pond with lots of lotus flowers growing in it, and there are a lot of red koi in the water. I saw a man wearing a linen-gray cloth shirt sitting on the corridor by the pond with his eyes closed, his back against the pillar, holding half a steamed bun in his hand, and throwing it into small pieces into the water.

Su Qin saw that he was slightly older than himself, dressed similarly to himself, and it was very interesting to feed the fish with his eyes closed, so he walked over and asked, "Why are you feeding the fish with your eyes closed?" ”

The man slowly opened his eyes and looked at Su Qin, "I'm just feeding the fish, I don't need them to remember me, I don't need to know which fish I fed, how they compete and how they distribute the food has nothing to do with me, so what else do I need to watch?" ”

Su Qin frowned when he heard this strange theory, "Are you also a freshman?" "Su Qin has already classified himself as a freshman as a matter of course, although Mr. Guigu has not yet announced it.

The man sneered, "Where are the new students who haven't announced yet?" ”

Su Qin was speechless for a while, he was really speechless.

Su Qin thought for a while and said, "Although I haven't announced the list yet, I must be on the list, my name is Su Qin." What is your name? ”

That person was a little surprised that Su Qin would say this, looked up at him seriously for a while, shook his head first, and then nodded. Su Qin was very surprised by this person's reaction, and asked puzzledly, "What do you mean by this?"

The man smiled and said, "It's nothing, my name is Zhang Yi." ”

Su Qin was also surprised when he heard this, and said with a little excitement: "It turns out that you are that young genius." Since he was small, he was able to speak well and be proficient in divination. ”

(1) Note: Excerpt from Zhuge Liang's "Qimen Dunjia Tongzong"